Spiffy:

Iffy:

Developer is unproven; human characters look a bit bland.

Advent Rising is a high-concept project by a low-profile developer. Utah-based game studio GlyphX, headed by the charismatic Mustard brothers, has been toiling away on its sci-fi epic for quite a while. It's been almost a year since Advent Rising has been shown to the press, following a somewhat underwhelming showing at E3 2004. Now, GlyphX and publisher Majesco have broken their self-imposed embargo, and I recently got a chance to check out a much newer build. I saw a game that was starting to live up to its creators' grand promises, and came away with real hope that Advent Rising might just be worth getting excited about.

The game is a collaboration between GlyphX and noted science-fiction author, Orson Scott Card, who has an integral role in crafting the game's sweeping and ambitious storyline. In a nutshell, galactic civilization is flourishing, and the various races, all alien to us, discover that they share common legends of a special species that will unite the galaxy. That species is humanity. Imagine the furor, then, when humanity is actually discovered. Not all alien races have humans' best interests in mind, as you'll quickly find out as you take the role of human pilot Gideon Wyeth. Something is awakening in Gideon, amazing powers that he couldn't have imagined. But will he be able to use them for good before humanity is wiped out? That's always the question, isn't it?

Advent Rising's backstory and plotline will not just be cutscene filler; game developer Donald Mustard sees them as the very heart of the game. He wants to create real emotion in the player, something which few game stories can claim to accomplish. With the storytelling power of Orson Scott Card, an epic musical score created by Tommy Tallarico and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and the Mustard brothers' devotion to seeing their vision fulfilled, it has an excellent chance of success.

Flick It

Advent Rising is best described as a third-person action game -- an intense third-person action game. Whether via guns or slowly developing special powers, Gideon is able to kick quite a bit of alien rear. Advent Rising feels somewhat different than other action games, though, because it puts more of an emphasis on dodging rather than aiming.

Indeed, the game almost handles aiming for you through a very cool new targeting system, referred to as "flick targeting." Normally, the game uses the right analog stick for camera control. But if there's an enemy around, you simply flick the stick (move it quickly toward the foe and then let go) and the enemy will end up targeted. From here it behaves similarly to the 3D Zelda games, letting you circle around the locked-on enemy as you initiate combat. Or, flick the stick again to target another one. (Clicking the stick in breaks the current lock.) This system is not just cool in concept -- it really seems to work, and leaves you free to worry about more important stuff, like the aforementioned dodging.